Life at court does not satisfy a man, but it keeps him from being satisfied with anything else.

A man unattached and without wife, if he have any genius at all, may raise himself above his original position, may mingle with the world of fashion, and hold himself on a level with the highest; this is less easy for him who is engaged; it seems as if marriage put the whole world in their proper rank.

There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.

We seldom repent talking little, but very often talking too much.

Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he wishes to be valued.

We are valued in this world at the rate we desire to be valued.

The sublime only paints the true, and that too in noble objects; it paints it in all its phases, its cause and its effect; it is the most worthy expression or image of this truth. Ordinary minds cannot find out the exact expression, and use synonymes.